Set Up Your Lock: 5×5 Pattern or 6-Digit PIN
Choose between a 5×5 pattern and a 6-digit PIN for your Vaultine vault, change it later, and know what to do if you forget it.
Your lock is what opens your vault, and your encryption key is derived from it on your device. Vaultine gives you two kinds of lock.
Your two options
| 5×5 pattern | 6-digit PIN | |
|---|---|---|
| How you unlock | Draw a path across a 5×5 grid | Type six numbers |
| Good for | People who remember shapes better than numbers | People who'd rather type a code |
| Watch out for | Simple shapes like an L, a square or a letter | Birthdays, years, repeated or sequential digits |
Both are free. Pick the one you'll remember without writing it down next to your device.
Choose a strong lock
- Don't reuse your phone or computer passcode. People who know your screen lock, or watch you type it, shouldn't also be able to open your vault.
- Avoid the obvious. For a PIN, skip
123456,000000, dates and anything printed on a card in your wallet. For a pattern, use more of the grid and change direction a few times. - Unlock where people can't see your screen. A pattern or PIN that someone has watched you enter isn't secret any more.
Change your pattern or PIN
Open Vaultine's settings and change your lock there. You'll enter your current pattern or PIN first to confirm it's you, then set the new one.
If you forget it
Use your 12-word recovery phrase. Entering the 12 words in the right order restores access, and then you can set a new lock.
Vaultine has no account and keeps no copy of your key, so there's no email reset and nobody can unlock the vault for you. If both your lock and your recovery phrase are lost, the files can't be recovered. How Vaultine's recovery phrase works explains why it's built this way.
Extra locks with Vaultine Pro
Pro adds two features that each use a lock of their own. They're separate features and do different things:
- Decoy Vault: a second pattern or PIN opens a harmless vault, while your real vault stays hidden and untouched.
- Duress Vault: a specific pattern or PIN opens a fake vault and permanently wipes the keys to your real vaults in the background.
Read Decoy Vault vs. Duress Vault before you set either one up, especially Duress: its wipe can't be undone.